Hey Snowbird22,

I just received the Audi official tow ball - guess what? They have updated the weight ratings - it now says 7700lbs / 770lbs tongue.

See attached pic.

 

No 12 volt power at factory 7 pin connector

I just completed a 2,000 mile trip towing my 20 foot, 3,800 lb R-Pod camper trailer with my 2017 Audi Q7 Prestige with standard suspension. With long days on the road, I learned that the factory towing package 7 pin harness DOES NOT provide 12 volt power in order to charge the trailer battery!! The brake lights / tail lights / turn signal lights all worked fine and braking worked fine with my Tekonsha Prodigy brake controller, but my trailer battery was significantly discharged at the end of each day of travel. I measured the trailer battery terminal voltage with and without the trailer harness being plugged into the Audi 7 pin connector, with and without the engine running. It is very clear that the Audi 7 pin connector does not charge the trailer battery.

The Good News: The Audi tows the trailer really well. Very stable, doesn't get pushed around by the wind or trucks when they pass me on the interstate. I averaged 14.5 mpg on the interstate at 63 mph. My previous 2013 Ford F-150 truck with the twin-turbocharged eco-boost engine with maximum towing package averaged 12 mpg towing the same trailer.

So everything is great, except for no 12 volt power to the trailer battery.

Can anyone please reply how to get the factory towing package to provide 12 volt steady power to the 7 pin connector?

Thanks

 

Here are a couple pictures.....

 

Would you you mind sharing where you picked up your audi hitch. I tried to get it from my dealer and they showed me a hitch with 7700 lbs towing and 616 tongue weight .

 

I purchased my Audi made ball mount (p/n 4L0092770U) online from Jim Ellis Audi. It is extremely beefy - it clearly can support more than 616 lb. I believe it is the same as the ball mount shown above, even thought the one above shows 770 lb tongue rating. See prior posts in this thread on this subject.....I believe Audi arbitrarily listed the tongue rating for this ball mount to match their VW/Porsche/Audi vehicle tongue limits, NOT the limit of the ball mount itself. You can contact Jim Ellis Audi directly and ask them about this....

 

Thanks snowbird. I was actually hoping to get the one referenced/pictured above with the correct sticker. The dealers in my area are only seeing the 7700/616. Your right I think the ball mount can handle the weight but I would prefer to buy the one with the right sticker.

I have a 2017 prestige with air suspension. We are going to do 4,000 miles of towing this summer. Pulling about 6500lbs. I figured if someone in the country is selling that damnmount with the right sticker I should get it from them.

 

Hey Snowbird - thank you for the pics of your rig - really nice setup.

I called Jim Ellis and we were on the phone 3 or so times today trying to figure this out .... part number 4L0092770U is not showing as valid for the 2017 Audi Q7 per the parts representative that I spoke with. He says that THEReis no ball mount sold for the 2017 q7 ... I have contacted my Audi local Audi dealer in NJ and initiated what they call an investigation into this. I want the hitch with the right stickers 7700/770 as shown in Maximus post. Not sure where he got it.

I am pulling an Outback 210URS just under 7k GVWR.

 

Hey Shino,

I think you're going to be fine with that part number - I really do think the only thing Audi/VW has done is mess around with the stickers. It would be pretty odd for them to use the same part number for what is effectively different parts.

Still if you can get the official word handed down on this, that would be awesome.

 

Maximus do you happen to recall which dealership or website you purchased your ball mount from. One of my Audi parts guys indicated based on your pic someone is getting the new part from Germany cause they are out of the old ones. You luckily found the right spot based on your picture. Would you share - it would help me move this along. Selling a vehicle with 7700 lbs of towing capacity and so many holes in the process is just dumb. If it wasn't for snowbird I wouldn't have even made it this far.

 

Hey all,

Just wanted to provide an update on my towing experience with the Q7.

We towed a 2017 Kodiak 253RBSL (29'1 total length, 5325lbs dry, about 6000lbs or so loaded) using a 2017 3.0L Q7 Prestige with Air Suspension and Factory tow package.

I used the OEM tow hitch part: 4L0092770U, WAM Part Nr: 305419801001
We needed to replace the stock 2" tow ball with a 2.5" ball for our trailer.
Brake Controller: Tekonsha P3 - Self installed using this harness from ebay: VW Touareg Plug and Play Trailer Brake Controller Harness Audi Q7 Porsche Cayenn | eBay

We picked up our trailer in Reno, NV and took a road trip back across to Nevada City CA, then on to Oroville, Vacaville and finally home to the SF East Bay area. We've also taken a trip down from there to Morro Bay, via 46 west and back where we encountered some ~20mph winds, both cross and tailwind. While you definitely feel the push we never got into any situations where control was reduced enough to be of real concern.

We took on a number of somewhat winding roads and grades around 5-6% (both up and down) and didn't really have any problems. The car seemed to have solid stability with such a long trailer and no weight distributing hitch, as well as not struggling excessively up the grades.

The biggest thing I found was how the air suspension can mess with your head. The manual tells you to put the car into "Auto" drive select mode, plug in trailer and adjust the tongue weight.

If the air suspension has started out relatively low when you begin this process, the weight distribution can look really bad once you're hitched in that the back of the car is sagging. The thing is, the air suspension seems to adjust once you are moving.

We found we felt most comfortable taking the Q7 for a quick spin in All Road mode to get the suspension to raise a bit, then beginning the process of switching to "Auto" and plugging/hitching the trailer.

This resulted in less concerning sag to start with - I'm not sure if this approach actually has much real world impact, but I sure felt better seeing things start out more level.

Hope this helps somebody out there !

Cheers